A Stained White Radiance

Summary

Cajun police detective Dave Robicheaux knows the Sonnier family of New Iberia -- their connections to the CIA, the mob, and to a former Klansman now running for state office. And he knows their past -- as dark and murky as a night on the Louisiana bayou.

An assassination attempt and the death of a cop draw Robicheaux into the Sonniers' dangerous web of madness, murder and incest. But Robicheaux has devils of his own. And they've come out of hiding to destroy the tormented investigator -- and the people he holds most dear.

Filled with the usual Burke combination of brilliant action and a stunning novelistic theme, A Stained White Radiance will keep Burke's fans riveted -- and win him many new ones.

Reviews

My second book in the Dave Robicheaux series. This was more of a whodunit that Burning Angel. Early in the book a police officer on the New Iberia force is murdered in a particularly grisly fashion. The suspects include members of the Ayran Brotherhood, a New Orleans mafiosi and a racist politician. Also at the center of the book is the Sonnier family. Robicheaux had grown up with the Sonnier's and been briefly romantically involved with the sister Drew. Lyle has served in Vietnam with Robicheaux who had ordered him into a VC tunnel where an explosion wounded him severely and left him scarred for life. He had become a TV evangelist with the power to heal others through their faith. The other brother, Weldon, had also served in Vietnam and then flew for Air America. When desperate for money for his business Weldon had done some work for Joey Gouza, the New Orleans mafiosi, that ended with Weldon ripping them off and dumping their guns and cocaine into the ocean. Weldons wife was the sister of Bobby Earl the racist politician whom Robicheaux despised. Verise Sonnier the father of Lyle, Weldon and Drew who had been thought dead appears in the book. He had always carried an evil soul and the accident that supposedly killed him had left him disfigured with burn scars that showed the evil on the outside.There is ample action in the book to keep it interesting but the real action is the interplay of Dave Robicheaux with the characters including his wife Bootsie, his daughter Alfaria. It is Robicheaux's interior life that separates these books from the standard mysteries. He shows great sensitivity to everything going on around him and his own flaws. The plot lines are tied up by the end but there is always a feeling that this is not the end for Dave Robicheaux. As always the author highlights the physical world from the texture of St. Augustine grass to the gnarly backs of gar fish in the river to complete the picture of the world going on in the book. I enjoyed this book more than Burning Angel and I now have seven more to look forward to.

This book felt a lot different from the earlier ones in this series. There was less kick-butting and more detective work, I suppose. Or, as another reviewer said, it's more of a mystery than the earlier books in the series.I don't know that I liked it as much. I'm not really reading this series because I want an intricate plot (though it was nicely paced). But Dave is probably too old to be a decent kick-butter anyway (I think he says he's 50+).It was much better in avoiding the environs descriptive tangents, and the use of racial descriptions for every character, but there is a secondary (minor) thread in this story that is racial-political in nature - which I did not enjoy at all.

This is the 5th in the Robicheaux series and the series just keeps getting better. A good intricate plot and a good story.Back Cover Blurb:A bullet shot through the window of Weldon Sonnier's house propels Dave Robicheaux back into the lives of a family he's not sure he wants to be reaquainted with. Weldon Sonnier's CIA-influenced past has led to dangerous connections and commitments, including debts to local mob boss Joey 'Meatballs' Gouza. As Weldon puts himself in the line of fire Lyle Sonnier, television evangelist and faith healer, reveals to Dave a violent family history that intersects menacingly with Dave's own.But overshadowing the manoeuvres of Gouza's lethal gang of thugs is the spectre of racial politics in the modern South, and it is former Klansman Bobby Earl who will prove to be Dave Robicheaux's most elusive enemy.

Burke likes to fool around with sociopathic types. He has one (at leaset) in every novel, and sometimes if the sociopath is such but does not allow society to be harmed, he or she triumphs. It is a weird woul this man this writer, this creator of dark light , creates in each of his books. It is his distinguishing mark: the use of chiaroscuro in literature.

Reading this series in order, the books get better and better. It's a delight to see the growth in both the character and the writer as Burke hit his stride in this series. Five down, over a dozen left that he's written since this one. If they keep improving at this rate, I'll run out of stars to hand out.This one starts when Dave is called out to investigate a shot fired through the window of an antebellum mansion. Weldon Sonnier, the mansion's owner, is part of a hugely dysfunctional family with a great deal of power in Southern Louisiana. He's also a bit of a shady character. His brother is a televangelist whose brother-in-law is a former Klansman turned politician. His sister is an old flame of Dave's. It's quite a family, and the have some nasty secrets, both personal and "professional." And Dave is drawn into the middle of it all. Throw in some nasty mob-related thugs and the story gets very intense very quickly.This is a complex tale peopled with well-drawn, multi-dimensional characters. Burke grounds it in a solid sense of place in his beloved Southern Louisiana, a setting which he evokes by appealing to all the senses. (It's no coincidence that I made jambalaya for supper this evening.)And in the process of telling a whale of a mystery/suspense story, Burke manages to deal with issues of real significance. What more can you ask from a book?

Another good Dave Robichaux novel by Burke. At times the flawed battered heroic nature of Robichaux is too much but he is a sympathetic character. Along with the descriptive paragraphs depicting the south Louisiana settings it makes for a good read.

I loved the book, but I really prefer books that have not been abridged. I feel like I don't really know the conclusion or the resolution and I can't find a summary of the book anywhere to see if I missed something. I have really liked Scribd so far, but I want unabridged books.